Camera Settings and How They Affect The Image

The affects of camera settings on a photo can make or break a picture. Between adjusting the ISO, shutter speed, and the aperture, finding the ideal balance of all is crucial. When taking photos with a UAS camera the angles and the speed of the drone can all be factors in the outcome of the picture.


To start, our lab group set up the Mavic 2 and connected it to our iPad via charging cable through the DJI Go 4 ios application. After ensuring that the camera was working and able to take photos we set the drone up on a table roughly 10 feet away from our subject. In this case, our subject was a Tomahawk that is stationary in the hanger. We then took our first photo with the settings on auto to get a baseline that we can compare the rest of the pictures to (Figure 1). Next we kept the shutter speed at 1/1000 and adjusted the aperture to each increment and took a picture. We took 13 pictures, one for each setting. Then we locked the aperture at 2.8 and changed the shutter speed. We took at a picture at each of the available shutter speeds and ended up with 50 photos. Then, we set the aperture at 5.6 and the shutter speed at 1/10 and adjusted the ISO for each photo. We took 8 photos, one for each ISO setting. Finally, we uploaded the pictures to the computer so we could analyze our data.

Figure 1

Throughout our lab we were able to see in realtime the affects of the different settings on the image. For instance, with the shutter speed set at 1/1000, we adjusted the aperture more and more in increments to see how it affected the image. In this case the photo was not receiving enough light and was very dark and underexposed. (Figure 2). From this we can infer that if we wanted to create a passable image we would have to lower the shutter speed to a slower speed in order to let more light pass through the lens. This would accommodate for the high aperture that is set. The opposite works for when there is a lot of light in the environment. The faster the shutter speed, the less light is allowed into the lens. However, if the shutter speed is too fast there will be little to no light getting into the lens which will cause the image to be very dark. The same concept will happen if the shutter speed is too slow. There will be too much light entering the lens and it will cause the image to be very bright and overexposed. (Figure 3)

Figure 2

Figure 3

Overall, the different adjustments you can make when taking a photo can be very influential in the quality of the image. Whether it be a too fast or too slow shutter speed, or the aperture being too high or too low, when you are collecting images it is important to study the environment. Light, background objects, and the speed of the drone are all factors that should be taken into account when collecting data that is usable.